WILL GBIC APPOINTEES KEEP MAYOR'S HAND FROM THE TILL?

21. Consideration and ACTION to appoint three (3) members to the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation (GBIC). (Commissioners J. Munguia/R. Longoria, Jr.) Item on tonight's City of Brownsville Commission meeting.

By Juan Montoya
Once upon a time there was an economic development organization funded by a one-quarter cent share of the City of Brownsville sales tax receipts.

It was called the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation and had  sister corporation dedicated to quality-of-life projects called the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation. It also got a one-quarter cent share of the sales tax receipts. Each year, each of these got almost $5 million from their share of sales taxes.

In the beginning, the GBIC contracted with another non-profit corporation called the Brownsville Economic Development Council that was supposed to have experts guide the GBIC and vet prospective companies to come to Brownsville and crate jobs. The BEDC had a 33-member board composed of businessmen, professionals, educators, and elected officials from the different governmental entities in town.

But the real power at the BEDC rested in its 10-member executive committee which actually ran things an oversaw the BEDC administrators in spending GBIC's money to foster economic development and create jobs for local people.

Now, since the GBIC, BCIC and the BEDC operated in the nation's poorest community, the hopes of the city rested upon their efforts. The directors knew that job creation here was difficult and gave the BEDC guys a free hand to attract outside companies. GBIC repeatedly extended the BEDC's contract at $1.5 million a pop every three years. Their record over the years was, to be charitable, spotty.

In 2002, the BEDC board hired a director from Michigan who had little – if any – experience in economic development. Jason Hilts became the city's top economic development guru even though he never was the top person of any organization, never worked at another economic development organization, only had some college courses under his belt, and by all accounts and purposes had limited formal training in economic development.

Newspaper reports at the time pointed out that the BEDC board awarded him an $80,000 annual salary coupled with benefits and a $500 monthly gas allowance. Additionally, Hilts had access to a BEDC credit card that he uses often for travel, meals and other expenses adding up to more than $1,000 a month.

Lynn Puglisi, who Hilts eliminated from the BEDC in his reorganization, charged that Hilts was disciplined for making large personal purchases on BEDCs credit card such as jewelry and clothing when he was vice president of the BEDC years ago. Hilts acknowledged the actions and says they were a mistake, but denied he was reprimanded for the unapproved purchases after an audit was conducted of his finances.

The Brownsville Herald's Emma Perez-Treviño reported in August 21, 2003, that: "When he was vice president in 1997 and 1998, the credit card facilitated the purchase of clothing from Mervyns in Los Angeles and Mission Viejo, Calif., slacks, shirts and men's coordinates from Dillards in Brownsville, more clothes from the Burlington Coat Factory in McAllen, a diamond ring from J.C. Penney in Brownsville, goods from Stein Mart in San Antonio, general merchandise and jewelry from Target in Brownsville, jewelry/repair/sales from Golden Time in Brownsville, and a $1,077.09 silver clock from the Jewel Gallery in Brownsville."

Nonetheless, the BEDC executive board made him director of that organization that used GBIC dollars.

 There were a few – very few – successes, and hugely notable failures. Pan American Freight Airways, Titan Tire, etc., are but a few of the projects that ate up the GBIC's eco-dev dollars and fizzled as failures. But Hilts and his VP Gilbert Salinas took the opportunity to visit the Paris Air Show and sight see in China seeking those elusive jobs for Brownsville workers.


Then, in 2015, Hilts launched something we will call the "Colombian" incentive.

A BEDC January 2016 report on the Colombian economic mission shows that in the two and one-half years of operating an office there, Hilts, with the directors' approval, spent $197,590 in salaries for three Colombian nationals and office costs, and another $116,000 in travel for BEDC, city, port, state and private individuals.

https://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2017/04/hilt-jumps-ship-at-bedc-did-he-hear.html

Some of his fellow travelers included: City of Brownsville (Mayor Tony Martinez), BEDC staff, Port of Brownsville reps (Eddie Campirano, commissioners?, Office of the Governor of Economic Development, A Brownsville manufacturer(?), attorney (private?), labor consultant (?)

Why the Mayor? Hilts, in the December 8 workshop, stated: "In South America, a mayor is viewed like a governor or president. The meetings we set up are better attended if the mayor is with us."

Martinez took to the publicly-funded jaunts like a catan to the muddy Rio Grande and traveled with selected public officials not only to Colombia, Turkey, the Netherlands, and all places in between on the public's dime.

In fact, Martinez took time to do some cycling there, giving truth to the lie that he was there to learn about cyclobias that have been implemented here at a huge cost to the city.

Results on GBIC's Colombia $314,438 investment in personnel, office and jaunts for our able city and state representatives:
Jobs for local residents: 0, not counting Hilts and BEDC VP Gilbert Salinas
Jobs for Colombian nationals: 3

Word around City Hall indicated that some of the members of the BEDC executive board were themselves drumming up business with prospective clients of the eco-dev organization and had no room to talk about Hilt's excesses. 

Disgusted with the BEDC board and its administration's performance, the GBIC board, now composed of two city commissioners (Cesar de Leon and Jessica Tetreau) and Cameron County Treasurer David Betancourt, opted to terminate its contract and go at it alone and hired their own executive director Mario Lozoya, a top executive with Toyota USA.

And they also hired PricewaterhouseCoopers, a multinational professional services network ranked as the of the Big Four auditors in the world to audit the BEDC and see how the GBIC's money was spent during the term of their contract.

So far, the results of that audit – although complete – have not been released. El Rrun-Rrun has filed an information request for a copy of the audit and are awaiting the GBIC's response.

And after the city commission passed an ordinance limiting the number of city boards that a person could serve in to one, GBIC board members Nurith Galonsky and John Cowen had to leave the board. Member Betancourt's membership is expiring due to the two-terms limit. 

Tonight, the city commission will select three new members from among a list of applicants. With any luck, the commission will appoint individuals who have no association with either the former BEDC board or with the likes of Martinez who would like nothing better than to stay at the public through.